1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a picking apparatus of a module IC (Integrated Circuit) handler used for automatically handling and testing module ICs manufactured throughout test processes for the module ICs, and more particularly to a gripper for the picking apparatus of a module IC handler for picking up the module ICs.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
Typically, a module IC refers to a substrate provided with a substrate whose one side or both sides is used for fixedly mounting a plurality of ICs and electric components, for example, by soldering, and has a function for extending a capacity when it is coupled to a mother substrate.
Such a module IC provides higher added-value when sold, as compared with individual sale of each IC as a final product. For this reason, the IC manufacturers tend to develop it as a main product and sell it.
However, the module IC as a product available from the market is relatively expensive and thus entails higher reliability as an important factor therefor. This requires strict quality tests for passing only products determined to be good, and otherwise, discarding all the module ICs determined to be not good.
The transfer of the module ICs between the processes during the manufacturing of the module IC is done under the state in which the module ICs are contained in the customer tray 101, as shown in FIG. 1, and the module ICs can be safely maintained in the customer tray 101. Also, the customer tray 101 includes a box-typed body 105 having a plurality of partition walls 104.
However, each insertion slot 102 provided inside of the customer tray 101 has much wider width relative to a width of the module IC 103, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
Such a configuration is such that only one kind of a customer tray 101 is used to accommodate various kinds of module ICs 103 whose widths may be different for each kind of module IC, and to maintain the ICs therein.
Further, since the module ICs 103 are available from a package of the customer tray 101 containing the test-finished module ICs therein, the manufacturing cost needs to be reduced.
To produce the customer tray 1 at a low cost, the customer tray is not injection molded, but rather it is vacuum-molded. However, this yields a bad precision to insertion slots 102.
When the module ICs 103 to be tested are accommodated in the customer tray 101, the module ICs 103 are placed in the insertion slots 102 with arbitrarily different inclinations of the ICs 103, as shown in FIG. 2, due to the distinct configuration of the customer tray 101. The distances between the inserted module ICs are different from each other, respectively. Therefore, grippers 108 of the picking apparatus 110, with an interval between the grippers being made constant for each picking apparatus, do not match the above distances.
For this reason, a test tray 106 as shown in FIG. 3 needs to be inevitably employed which is precisely made in order to test the module IC.
As shown in FIG. 5, the gripper 108 includes a jaw 109 which can be movable at both sides of the lower part of a gripper body 111 and has to pick up the test-finished module ICs.
When the jaw 109 of the gripper 108 is to pick up the module ICs 103, a crack may occur by impact due to a collision between the sides of the module ICs 103 and the jaw 109. Thus, there is also a problem that the module ICs leaves and deviates from feeding process.
Also, the jaw 109 of the prior gripper 108 does not maintain a regular tension due to lack of damping means thus resulting in lower efficiency of productivity.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a gripper for picking apparatus of a module IC handler for picking the test-finished module ICs without impact.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved gripper for picking apparatus for picking and moving exactly module ICs twisted with a predetermined angle.
In order to accomplish the above objects, there is provided, the gripper for picking apparatus including: a gripper body; first to third supports vertically formed at lower part of the gripper body; a cylinder for driving a jaw located between first and second supports and second and third supports; a pair of jaws movably connected at a lower part of the cylinder, for picking the module IC; damping means for reducing an impact occurred upon picking the module IC by the jaw; and a module IC sensor for sensing the module IC upon moving the jaw.